ATU 1505 Transit Press Release regarding fares (Sept 13)

WINNIPEG TRANSIT HAS FARE ISSUES AND THEY SHOULDN’T PUT IT ON THE PUBLIC

Fare evasion has been an issue for years and the City has failed to address it

Media Contact: Aleem Chaudhary – 204-943-5064

Winnipeg, Manitoba – Transit service in Winnipeg needs to improve. Riders deserve better and shouldn’t have additional costs put onto them to make it happen.

The City has known for a long time they’ve been losing $5000-$7000 a day (millions of dollars each year) due to fare evasion and has done nothing to resolve the problem. If the City were to put minimal investment into enforcing the current fare situation, the Cities budget shortfalls could be lowered substantially.

The Transit policies “pay double next time” and “give transfers even if they don’t pay a fare”, do not address the issue. They actually compound problems because passengers who do pay fares see this and pass their frustration onto Operators. The majority of Transit assaults are related to fare disputes.

Transit systems such as Calgary have low income passes. Those passes allow citizens to pay as low as $5 per month, depending on income levels. This provides opportunity to people who normally wouldn’t be able to pay and ride the bus. Allowing them to get to work, doctors’ appointments, and improve themselves overall. At the same time the system is increasing ridership as well as getting revenue from those who may take the risk of evading fares anyways. Transit is there to serve the Public and getting something is better than nothing. Everyone wins.

We don’t believe the Provincial government should be making the proposed funding cuts which could potentially grow every year hereafter. And we also don’t think the City should be putting the added cost onto the public. There are better ways to fix these issues than to just pass the buck.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505

The Amalgamated Transit Union is the largest labor organization representing transit workers in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1892, the ATU today is comprised of more than 200,000 members in more than 25o local unions spread across 47 states and nine provinces, including 3,000 workers at Greyhound Lines, Inc. Composed of bus drivers, light rail operators, maintenance and clerical personnel and other transit and municipal employees, the ATU works to promote transit issues and fights for the interests of its hard-working members.